The Book of Oa
by Dragonhulk
Summary: Allen Scott was not the first to wield the power of the Green Lantern. This book tells of the history of that power. It contains the stories of all those who have held the power, and all who have yet to come. An Inheritance Interlude
1. Chapter 1

The Book of Oa

Disclaimer: I own neither Buffy, Superman, or any of the myths and stories I'm about to mangle.

Ratting: Teen

Summary: Allen Scott was not the first to wield the power of the Green Lantern. This book tells of the history of that power. It contains the stories of all those who have held the power, and all who have yet to come.

Authors Note: Okay my muse isn't letting me near the main Inheritance stories so I figured this was the best time to start the interludes.

* * *

Rupert Giles was awoken from his sleep by a rather rude knocking on his door. Now if this had happened a year ago he wouldn't have minded so much, but given his current situation he was much more perturbed.

"Aren't you going to get that?" asked his bedmate as she too was dragged from the land of dreams.

"Actually I was considering turning whoever is at the door into a toad," responded the man that was known to the world as Dr. Fate.

"Find out what they want first. If it's important I'll understand, but if it's a girl scout selling cookies I just ask that you let me help with the spell," said Jenny.

"Only after she gives us a discounted box of Thin Mints," said Giles as he gave her a quick peck on her lips and started to get dressed.

"Hurry back."

"Oh I will, it will take much more than a door to door salesman to keep me away from you for a significant amount of time."

That said Giles threw a robe over the garments he had already put on and began to head towards the main entrance of his apartment. At the moment all he knew was that it had better be very important, he hadn't been kidding about that toad transformation spell.

"May I help you?" asked Giles as he opened the door to reveal a rather large and intimating demon.

"Yeah, got into town awhile ago and Willy said you were looking for a book," said the demon.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, I often put out feelers for rare and powerful books. It comes with the realm of being a magic user I suppose," responded the hero, completely unfazed by having a demon outside his door.

"This book," said the demon as he brought out an extremely battered old tome from inside his trench coat.

"Yes I have been looking for this," said Giles as he tried to remain calm as he noticed just what book the demon was holding. "I must say that I was hoping that it would be in better condition."

"I stole if off of a sorceress that was always summoning me about 1500 years ago. I wanted to burn the thing out of spite, but I'm a bit of a packrat."

"I'll give you ten thousand for it," stated the mage without preamble.

"Willy said fifteen grand."

"Yes well the world was coming to an end at the time and the book is in rather bad condition. Honestly I'm only willing pay that much for it because it's rather rare."

"Fine," said the demon, as it handed the book to Giles. "I'd usually try and intimidate you into a higher amount, but my spawn are going to hatch any day now and virgin menstrual blood costs more than it use to."

"Good. Now do you need cash or will a check suffice?"

"A check is good, I know some lawyers in LA that can cash it for me."

"Very well then," said Giles as he wrote out a check for that amount and handed it to the demon. In all honesty this was a rather significant amount for him, but the book was one of a kind.

"Who was that?" asked Jenny as she entered the main room.

"Just someone selling a book," replied Giles a large grin threatening to break out on his face.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Jenny as she saw the jade symbol on the leather cover. The gypsy woman wasn't into books nearly as much as her boyfriend, but even she could appreciate a find like this one.

"Yes it is, I had runes installed over my door for just such visits," stated Giles in a confidant air.

"You planed on having demons visit your home to sell you rare books?" asked Jenny as she raised one eyebrow.

"Yes well, when the world is about to end you can't be too picky about where the information that saves the world comes from," responded the watcher in an almost sheepish tone.

"Just checking. Now hurry up and open the cover, I want to see what's written in there," said the computer teacher, sounding very much like a child begging a parent to open a Christmas present.

Carefully taking the book over to his reading desk Giles put it down and gently opened the beaten cover. On the first page there was a simple line in old English that Giles had no trouble in translating.

"I think we need to make a phone call."

* * *

Kyle Rayner took a moment to get reoriented after the transporter finished moving all his molecules from the moon to Earth. In the future he could probably use his ring to make the trip, but everyone wanted him to keep a low profile until the memory of what the Joker did faded a bit more.

"Okay," said the young artist as he stepped out of the abandoned building and into the warm California sun. "There's the high school that Fate mentioned, so I just need to go west on Renfield Rd. until I hit Oak St. and take a left."

Taking a quick look around to make sure that no one was watching Kyle used the power of his ring to create a construct of a motorcycle. Granted it was a bit conspicuous given the fact that the entire thing, including the tires, was a solid green color, but after physical training with Wonder Woman he figured he deserved to spoil himself a bit.

The drive to the apartment complex was really quite enjoyable; the wind rushing past him was as close the young man had ever gotten to flying, yet.

The only complaint he had about the whole event was that it was over in just a few minutes. It wasn't a large town so even going at a relaxed speed the young artist soon had to get off of the bike and dispel it.

Knocking on the door Kyle was surprised when the door was opened by a beautiful woman that looked nothing like Dr. Fate though if she ever took up the mantel she would fit right in with all the other beautiful women that were around the Watchtower.

"You must be the Green Lantern, come on in," said the woman.

Stunned Kyle simply walked into the apartment and saw Fate, sans helmet, hunched over an old book. He wondered how he should feel toward the older man. Letting the woman know who Rupert Giles was outside of school was the librarians choice, letting her know that Kyle Rayner was the Green Lantern was not.

"Don't worry, she doesn't know your name and can't even see your face," stated Giles, seemingly able to read the younger mans mind. "Jenny here simply wanted to meet one of the non-resident members of our little group, so she agreed to have an obscurment spell cast on her so you would be able to retain your anonymity."

"It's true," piped up the woman. "I can see most of you just fine, but your face looks like its just one big lump of flesh."

"Okay. So uh, exactly why did you need to see me?" asked Kyle as he ran a hand through his thick black hair.

Carefully shutting the old book to prevent any major damage Giles pointed to what appeared to be a green stick figure of a TIE fighter rotated ninety degrees and said, "Place your ring on this if you would."

Shrugging at the simple request Kyle simply walked over and did as he was asked. Five seconds later he was jumping back in shock that the old tome had burst into emerald flames.

"Don't worry, it's supposed to do that, I think," said Giles as soon as he had recovered from his own shock.

"It's supposed to burn into ash if you touch it?" asked Kyle.

"Nonsense," said Giles as the flames died down. "There you see, it's unharmed. As a matter of fact I would go as far as to say that it is much improved."

And the book was much improved, so much so that Kyle would have sworn that it had just come off the presses. Every crack, tear, and stain that had been so obvious before had simply disappeared.

"How?" asked the young artist in wonderment. Okay so he wasn't quite used to the strangeness that seemed to come from living this life just yet.

Rupert simply responded by opening the leather cover and allowing his guest to read the words neatly printed inside.

"Place the ring on the symbol located on the front cover to repair any damage," Kyle read aloud.

"Yes, that's why I called you, to repair the book. Though repairing the book also seems to translate the text into the language of the person currently wielding the ring."

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked the New York native, surprised by the sadness in the librarians tone.

"It depends on who you ask I suppose. Personally I find that translating the text is half the fun," said the Watcher.

"You are such a geek, and that's one of the reasons I love you," said Jenny as she leaned in and gave Giles a quick peck on the cheek.

"So just what's so special about this book anyway?" asked Kyle.

"It's a book of history and prophecy," stated Giles. "Supposedly it contains information about everyone that has held the power you now possess and everyone that will acquire that power in the future. From what little I've been able to see so far, I believe that is exactly what the book does."

"Wait, everyone?" asked Kyle as he began to twist the emerald ring on his right ring finger.

"Yes, everyone," replied Giles as he opened the book to the page he was studying, revealing a detailed black and white drawing of Kyle.

"Okay I'm getting a bit freaked out by this now."

"That's a common reaction the first time that someone learns that there is a prophecy about them or some such."

"Is it okay if I borrow it some time? I should probably know what's in there."

"Agreed, and as my father used to say, there is no better time than this very moment," said the Englishman as he gave the book over to Kyle. "I just ask that you be careful with it and return it to me the moment you finish."

"I will, I promise," said the young man as he left the apartment and began to head back toward the transporter.

"Did you just give him a ten thousand dollar book?" asked Jenny as the door closed behind the young hero.

"No, I let him barrow a ten thousand dollar book," said Giles with a sigh. "The truth is that he needed it more that I probably ever will. All the other members of the League are far more connected to the legacies that they have become a part of, and that young man desperately needs that sense of connection."

"If you say so. I'll just have to make sure that I keep your mind occupied until he returns the book," said Jenny a seductive smirk firmly set on her face.

"Yes I suppose you will," said Giles with an equal smirk.

What followed were very long periods where Giles forgot about books, demons, the end of the world, and occasionally his own name. And truth be told he couldn't be happier.


	2. In the Begining

Kyle Rayner slumped into his bed in a boneless heap, fighting the urge to pop the half bottle of Advil he had in his cabinet into his mouth and sleep for a week. Physical training with an Amazon was something that a professional body builder may enjoy, but not a modestly fit artist. On the other hand it kept him from lying to his girlfriend when he told her he wasn't all that attracted to the blond superhero. Not that he had anything against strong women; he just wasn't the kind of person who was attracted to someone that beat the crap out of him on a regular basis.

Still he had to admit that he was improving, but if he wanted to contribute anything to this team he still needed to improve a lot more. Until he learned not to loose his concentration every time there was a loud noise or bright flash of light, the ring and everything it could do was useless.

Deciding that as good as it sounded going directly to sleep wasn't the best thing he could be doing at the moment. Using his ring to create a green hand and wagon Kyle was able to move the book he wanted from across the room without forcing his abused muscles to move.

"Maybe I should cut back on those Addams Family reruns," commented Kyle to no one in particular as he watched his construct fade from existence.

Now that he had the book his first instinct was to open it to his section, but he squashed it. The League had been trying to teach him self control, something he needed if he was going to wear the ring all the time, so he reluctantly opened the book and started to read from the first real entry.

* * *

The world shook.

Before time was recognized demons held dominion over man. That is how it was, that is how it is, and that is how it would forever be. Humans were meant to be playthings for the great beings and nothing could change that.

This was the thought of every man, woman and child on earth yesterday, but for the first time ever they did not think the same thoughts today. The reason for this change was that today, beings had come down from the sky, and they had the power to harm and kill the demons.

The most striking of these new beings was the emerald man. Not only did he shine with a warm light that seemed to empower the humans that looked at him, but he held the power of creation in his hands.

Is it any wonder then that he attracted the attention of the most powerful, and most feared of the demon rulers? The creature was the embodiment of death in the night; the reason mankind first began to huddle around glowing embers as they slipped into their fitful sleep.

The battle was the thing of legend. The shock of the emerald savior as the demon cut through his shields echoed the shock the day must feel as it gives way to night. Still, the pain that the demon felt as it was stabbed by pure creative energy, has been echoed every time the darkness has been forced to flee before the light of a fire.

Both demon lords and star warriors fell simply from the ambient powers unleashed by the two equally powerful beings, neither gaining an obvious upper hand. So the battle raged until the living shadow plunged a clawed appendage into the heart of the newly arrived god, ripping out his emerald heart.

The shadows victory quickly proved to also be its defeat. Without a body and mind to control the energies inside it the power of the green creator flowed from its heart, consuming much of the demon in emerald flames and scattering the rest into the vast universe.

The rest of our saviors only took a brief moment to mourn the loss of the greatest of their number before they continued with the battle.

The powers unleashed moved oceans and created mountains from flat plains. It is understandable that even the gods did not notice as a single glowing emerald heart was buried, its power not yet extinguished.


	3. First Light

Tangled Web

It was the power of the gods in its purest form. An emerald bolt of energy streaking across the sky, entering the palace before the guards even had time to sound an alarm.

Speeding along the corridors the massive green ball of light wove its way through the building until it entered the throne room. Once there it slowed to a stop, and the arching bolts of energy began to fade, revealing something, that was either dressed in green furs or had a thick pelt of green fur covering it from head to toe holding a glowing green box.

"You wished to speak to me King Pontkus?"

"Yes I did Risia," said the king of the first city with a smile. "I must admit though I had expected you to arrive yesterday."

"My apologies my friend, but I had to destroy a tribe of the large ice demons that inhabit my homeland first," said Risia as the green furs began to shift into what most of the women of the court were wearing, revealing a human woman, or perhaps a young girl on her way to transforming into a woman. She was small, only reaching the height of the smaller young women who hadn't fled the court. Even if she had been the same height as the other women her light skin and golden hair would have marked her as an outsider when everyone in the city had dark hair and richly tanned skin. It was her eyes that attracted the most attention though, for her eyes still crackled with the same bright green power that had transported her into the building.

"Understood, and as the threat our seers have predicted has not yet arrived there is no need for an apology, not harm as been done," said King Pontkus as he stood from his throne. "I have had a room prepared for you for as long as you wish to stay."

"Thank you," said Risia as she followed the king. "So what exactly is the threat supposed to be? The dream your mystics sent to me was lacking in detail."

"Pure chaos," said King Pontkus as he quickly made his way to a private chamber, some things were better discussed in private rather than open court. "From what my advisors tell me this won't be the result of a plot by demons so there is no way to prevent this from coming to pass. If what I have been told is true, this needs to happen. We simply need to contain the taint and make sure the destructive forces don't spread too far."

"Contain the taint? This doesn't sound like the words of someone that raced me to fight a group of grathmnt demons."

"If you remember I was almost killed because I rushed in. If your scream hadn't caused their heads to explode my younger sister would be ruling this city instead of me."

"True," said Risia with a smile. "So I'll trust you when you say that this can't be prevented, but do you have any idea what will cause this disaster?"

"Has caused, not will cause. Every mystic on the island says that this is a result of the war between the Gods and Demons, like the dark portals that lead to the home dimensions of the demons."

"And the gods still refuse to show themselves. At times like this it's truly difficult to believe that they haven't left us, or have died."

"They live, but perhaps they now live in another land. I've heard that there are gods in a land where the sands are like the ocean, perhaps they are there."

"I've been there Pontkus. There are beings of power there, but I would not call them gods. The god Pontus supposedly created your oceans by dousing the fires of the demons with his body, the power of water personified, but the half animal beings I encountered in the land of sand were too human. I would believe my cousin Wodan a god before I think the beings I met as the gods whose stories I was raised on."

"You may be right, but I will still pray before we go into battle."

"That's your choice, but I've found something that works better than prayer for me," said Risia as she indicated the stone medallion that hung around her neck.

"Yes, the true source of your powers. You never did explain what that meant."

"It's an oath," said Risia as her fingers traced the design on the circular medallion. "It was an oath that I made to myself, and to every human in this world."

Pontkus didn't say anything, but silently indicated that she should go on. This was the first time Risia had talked about this without being drunk and it looked like she was going to say more sober then she ever did when they were in the taverns together.

"When I first found the green ore while exploring a cave in my homelands, my greatest wish was to leave my tribe to find a place where I wasn't the smallest one around. The ore granted that wish and took me to the moon in a flash of emerald light. I saw the world as the gods see it that day, and it looked as vulnerable as the pomegranate its shape reminded me of.

"That day I made an oath to protect as much of the world as I could, from the top," indicating the horizontal line at the top of the circle, "to the bottom," said Risia while she pointed at the horizontal line on the bottom of the circle.

A line, then a circle just as wide under it, and under that another line. It was Risia's symbol, and now Pontkus knew what it meant.

"Get some rest Risia," said Pontkus. "Tomorrow we save Atlantis, and possibly the world."


	4. A Trap and a Warning

White, red, black, and green. These were the colors of a battle that would have inspired men to sing songs for millennia, if only there were others than the demons and the human they were fighting to witness it.

Time and again giant ice demons would throw themselves at the man, and time and again the man would call forth an emerald flame to devour the demons, even as his blood stained the snow beneath his feet red. It wasn't that the man didn't know he was going to die; it was simply that he refused to do so before he had killed all of the demons before him.

The twelve largest giants came in the last wave, each pounding step cracking the frozen earth beneath their feet as if it was the cheapest glass. The battle cries they shouted dimmed the sun, stealing the pittance of warmth it had still been giving until that moment.

The man simply smiled, his white teeth a sharp contrast to his pitch black skin. He never hesitated to lift the green orb he had been holding throughout the battle, even though his skin blistered and sizzled from the heat of the emerald flames his will called from it.

Two of the giants instantly fell from his attack, their torsos gaping holes instead of solid ice and demonic flesh. That single jet if fire didn't stop there though. Guided by the will of its creator it twisted and turned through the air, a jade snake striking at the demons from every conceivable angle, killing three more and injuring another six.

It was the seventh giant, the one untouched by the attacks, that brought a club down towards the human that had slaughtered so many of its kind. The power behind the club was immense. The club had never failed to bring victory to the giant, crippling his enemies, if not killing them outright.

Today was not like those previous battles however. Today the great stone club only caused the barest of cracks to appear on the dome the wielder of the emerald light created to protect himself.

Immediately the dome began to glow, brighter and brighter still until the light seemed to be the purest white instead of any shade of green. Then with a single pulse the energy the man had been pouring into his shield was released, blasting through snow, ice, and more importantly the bodies of the few ice demons that still lived.

When the fire and dust cleared, all that was left was intact was the wielder of the orb broken and bloody, awaiting death by either the wounds he had gained during the battle or the unbelievable cold he now felt without the orb shielding him. He knew if he could just reach the orb he would live, but he had dropped it when his will had faltered after the last attack and it rolled out of his reach.

The sound of footsteps on the ground told the orb wielder that he wasn't as alone as he first though. And for a few intense moments, he knew fear at the thought of one of the ice demons gaining the power of the orb.

This is why it came as such a surprise when he felt the orb roll against the side of his head. The physical contact was all the man needed to make the orb spread its protective field around him and to begin the long process of healing his wounds.

Soon enough a man came into view. He was tall and pale, like many in these cold lands were, but he had also seemed to have suffered a serious wound recently that caused him to loose an eye.

"I am Odin of the Aesir," said the one eyed man as he sat down next to the man he had just saved, and ignored the two black crows that landed on his shoulders. "While it is true that death comes to all, it seemed wrong to let a warrior such as yourself die when your salvation was so close."

"I am unnamed, and I thank you for your help," said the black man, even as he felt one if his ribs snap into place and begin knitting together so he could breathe easier.

"Would you mind listening to a story while you heal, unnamed of the southern lands?" asked Odin.

"It would help pass the time."

Odin merely nodded in thanks and said, "Long ago there were beings of incredible power, who we named gods, came down from the stars to battle and humanity from the demons that had enslaved us from the moment we were created. The battle between these forces split the lands, causing what was once one to become many. At the end we believed that the demons were destroyed or imprisoned and the gods victorious, but this was not so.

"You see, the demons had left a taint, and in time that taint grew, giving rise to demons that were almost as powerful as those the gods had fought so many years ago. For a long time humanity believed that the old gods would return to save us again, but that never happened. Now the demons have managed to once again almost totally enslave humanity, so the time has come for new gods to rescue humanity, only this time they will come from this world.

"They won't be as powerful as the old gods, but they will be many of them this time, spread through out the world. At first they will fight by themselves, then they will find others of similar strengths and some will even produce powerful offspring so they will fight as a family.

"This will go on until the leader of one group of gods realizes that there other gods in other lands. When this happens he will call the leaders of the various gods together, so that all the gods in all the lands could work together and destroy the demons once and for all.

"After much discussion the gods will realize that they can destroy all the demons, they can't do so without destroying all the humans as well. The demons had simply become too entrenched to fully defeat, but they could be thinned.

"With the help of every god a trap was formed. It would lure the more powerful demons to an area where one of the tribes of gods would make there home outside of space and time. When enough demons have entered this trap, the tether that connects the trap to this world will be severed, trapping both god and demon together until all are dead.

"They will call this trap, Asgard."

"Why are you telling this?" asked the unnamed defender.

"Because I am a selfish man who wants the future to know of his people and what was sacrificed in the past so that tomorrow may be bourn. Because I know that there are eyes watching this moment, listening to these words long after Asgard is nothing but dust and ash. And finally I'm telling you this because if I do you one more service I can extract an Oath of Silence from you, so you can never tell a demon or human what I have told you."

The unnamed understood the reasoning behind such an oath. Odin only spoke of events that have yet to happen, if the purpose of Asgard were known now it would do nothing but let the demons avoid it.

"Do me one last service then, so that I may make the Oath."

"Five days to the north and east from here you will find a mountain with smoke coming out of it. Under that mountain live the dwarfs, and if you take your orb to them they will refashion it so that it no longer harms you when you use its power. Not only that, but they will cast a spell on it so that the others that follow your path will instinctavly do likewise."

"Then for this boon, I the Unnamed, once a slave but freed by my will, do hearby declare an Oath that I will never speak of what you have told me this day."

Both men felt the magic as the Oath was sealed. From this day forward the user of the emerald orb could not speak a word of the conversation, no matter what conditions he would face. In essence he had just given up some of his freedom so that one day the more powerful demons in the world would be stopped, a high price for a former slave to pay.

"Thank you," said Odin as he rose to his feet. "For your sacrifice I will give you, and those that will hear these words in the future a bit of advice, never look deeply into your own future, or that of your loved ones. It is truly a terrible thing to look at your newborn child and see how he will die."

With those words Odin walked away, and was soon swallowed up by the snow that seemed to constantly fall in these lands. The unnamed one knew that he would heed Odin's words, and hopped those that followed him would as well.


End file.
